The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1887-11-18
POOR JAKE SHARP.
His Real Life In Ludlow street jail
No Luxuriant Surroundings-A
Feeble Old Man.

NO LuXuriant Surroundings-A
Feeble Old Man.
Reporters daily go TO and come away from
Ludlow street jail but never have they sue
reeded says The Nep York star, In penetra-
ting futher than the warden's Office, while for
days and weeks past they have spoken through
the iron grating from the street and put to the
keeper on duty the stereotyped and thread
bare questions Anything new about SHARPE
Did he sleep well last nlghtP And the usual
answer is youchsafed, and the imaginative
man builds up his daily "fake," while the
more truthful hard. worker writes a literal par
agraph.
The surroundings of the wealthy prisoner
have been described as luxurlant, his quarters
magnificent in their fittings, coupled with the
most enticing food and seductive wines OF
France and Spain. All that wealth can pro-
cure has been given to the prisoner In the i'm
nglnaton Of the average reporter while not
one Of them has ever seen the inside OF his
rooms.
Such information as could be given by War
den Heating has been freely told to the press.
but the naked truth has been clothed in such
raiment as TO change its appearance. Here
are the real facts from one who has spent the
past two weeks with the rich prisoner in Lud-
low street Jail
The rooms occupied by Jacob Sharp are a
parlor and bedroom previously occupied by
Warden Heating and fitted in a simple but
comfortable manner for temporary occupation
during his term Of Office. The parlor is fur
nishcd with an inexpensive suit and a folding
bed, close to which stands the sick chair and
tab faf al Tha laI
room adjoining the paror, both of which are
on the ground floor, is furnished simply and
used by the faithful wife Of the prisoner. The
outlook from the parlor is from an iron-grated
large window upon Ludlow street, and two
small iron barred windows In the rear open
upon n view of the jail yard, uninviting and
cheerless
The noise of rafting carts passing up and
down the stony street, sufficient to distract an
ordinary sick man, is more than out done by
the almost constant clang Of the door gong,
that is said to have struck terror into the
heart of many man who. entering there has
left hope behind. Within ten feet Of the bed
occupied by the invalid this great gong rings
out its alarming peal more than hundred
times day, for the great door is the only
means OF entrance to and egress from the
jail.
These, then, are the luxuriant surroundings
OF u man accustomed TO luxury. Through
one, at least. of the most unhealthy and un-
endurable summers ever known in the city of
New York the old man has sweltered in this
apartment, gaspng for breath and there now
upon his bed lies Jacob Sharp, feeble old
man OF threescore years and ten, wasting
away with terrible disease that will go with
him to the grave. Out of the bed and into
the sick chair is his only journey during the
day, and since his occupation OF his present
quarters few months since he has never left |
his room, save only to drag his weary way to
court.
No servants are employed by him, but his
wife is IN constant attendance, his daughter
and son-n-law are frequent visitors, and his
favorlte grandson, George Sharp, Jr., comes
10 him early in the morning and remains until |
late at night to do what young man can to |
relieve the horrible monotony of the jail.
And with these surroundings the pain-rack- |
ed, feeble old man is slowly wasting away. |
He has lost over thirty pounds within four
months The picture is that Of u helpless, |
feeble old man, who has been prosecuted by |
the whole power of the county, which scarcely |
a human being can Withstand, and tried |
where almost the entire newspaper press was |
constantly, bitterly, and relentlessly convict
ing him even before he was indicted.
The very nature of the terrible disease from |
which Jacob Sharp suffers the most intense
agony precludes his indulgence in any OF the |
succulent food enjoyed by other invalids and |
milk is his principal susenence. No tempting |
viands pass into his room, and only the sim |
plest food, and barely sufficient to sustain life, |
is accorded him, while he takes very little |
even of this. !
Jacob Sharp is now a wreck of n once strong |
and healthy man. He gave TO New York city |
her greatest railroad, but by methods de- |
clared questionable, while some mercful peo- |
pie pronounce the methods OF his accusers as |
being more than questionable. His trial was |
conducted In the midst of great excitement Of |
the populace, engendered and encouraged by |
newspapers who prejudged the old man gull |
ty and tired him after, before he was tried by |
"a jury Of his peers"
To the end OF his trial no mercy was shown |
him, and his accusers clamored for his imme- |
date incarceration, even at hard labor, In |
Sing Sing. Fortunately for the feebelold man |
one judge OF the court OF appeals was found |
without 1inty heart, who accorded to the |
rich man the same degree OF mercy that has |
always been extended TO the poorest criminal, |
permitting him to remain where he is until |
the questions Of doubt are finally adjudicated |
upon.
Those who gazed upon the broken-down old |
man at his trial can readily appreciate his
condition at the present time. No news,
whether favorable to him or otherwise, has |
the least appreciable effect upon him. He is
simply the utter wreck of his former self,
waiting for the end